As If Tickling the Dragon Wasn't Bad Enough
by I. H. Scribe
Summary: Voldemort and his Death Eaters didn't just tickle the dragon – they poked it in the eye before kicking it between the legs and laughing.


Fandoms: Harry Potter

Characters: Lily Potter, the Death Eaters

Prompt: Lily survives Halloween, but James and Harry don't. Lily goes on a roaring rampage of revenge.

Prompt Made By: I. H. Scribe

Disclaimer: I don't own the following series(es) or any character(s) that follow, and unless _I. H. Scribe_ is listed after _Prompt Made By_ chances are I don't own the idea for this story either.

* * *

Lily Potter woke up with a gasp.

It took a few moments to figure out where she was. There were flames just beginning to lick the walls, which were covered with moving quidditch players. The nursery, of course. Harry's nursery.

HARRY!

Lily rushed to her feet, tumbling on her first try, but getting up on the second and rushed to her son's crib. She let out a sigh of relief when she found him sleeping.

"Harry, baby, time to wake up," Lily said, as she picked him up. But instead of cuddling to her as he usually did, even in his sleep, Harry just hung limply from her arms. And he was ice cold to the touch.

"No," Lily whispered. "No, please, please. Harry, baby, please wake up."

Harry didn't wake up. He wouldn't wake up again. Rumors of a banshee living in the woods near Godric's Hollow would last for centuries as everyone in the town heard Lily's anguished scream. Lily heard a pop of apparition, and someone bursting into the house.

"James? Lily?" Sirius called out. "Where are yo-JAMES!" Lily, sobbing, slowly walked down the stairs, Harry still in her arms.

"James please, wake up," Sirius said. Then he spotted Lily. "Lily! You're alive! Ha, ha!" Sirius let out a cheerful cry. "And little Harry too!"

But Lily shook her head, and the smile immediately dropped from Sirius' face.

"Oh no. No, not Harry too!" Lily placed Harry in James arms, and wiped her tears away. "Lily. I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I suggested Peter."

"Shut it Black. We've got work to do. We'll deal with the rat later." She put out the fires, and then headed for the door.

"Lily? Where are you going?"

"To visit an old friend."

* * *

Severus Snape paced back and forth. Voldemort would be making his move on the Potters or the Longbottoms soon. Snape had begged Voldemort to spare Lily. She had been his only friend, and he would do anything to protect her, which is why he also went to Dumbledore to ask him to protect her.

He truly hoped she would survive. Potter and his brat, he couldn't care less about, but Lily, his precious Lily... A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. He was stunned to find Lily there once he opened it, not even noticing Black behind her.

"Hello, Sev," Lily growled before blasting him into the wall behind him. Another flick of her wand wrapped him in ropes. "Hey no, you don't get to sleep!"

Lily smacked him hard across the face. Snape, having begun to fall unconscious from Lily's first strike, snapped to attention.

"Lily, wha-?"

"Shut up! You don't get to call me that anymore, Death Eater!" Lily snarled at him. "Would you like to guess who visited my family tonight, Snape? No? I'll give you a clue." She cast a minor cutting curse at his sleeve, revealing his Dark Mark, and leaving a thin trail of blood along his arm.

"Your master visited me tonight. He killed my husband, and then tried turning his wand on my son. I stood in his way, and do you know what he told me? He told me you asked him to spare me – just me – for your own sick pleasures."

Sirius growled, but Lily silenced him with a gesture.

"Do you know what he did next, Snape? He stunned me and then killed my son. My baby boy is dead along with my husband. Guess who's going to die next?"

"Lily, plea-!"

"I said don't call me that!"

"I can help you!" Snape yelled. "I turned spy for Dumbledore when I heard he was after you, I swear! I can give you names and locations."

"Oh, you'll give me more than that, Sev, darling, much more. Sirius, be a dear, and cast some silencing wards."

Sirius cast the strongest ones he knew – used by the Black family for centuries to keep the sounds from escape their torture chambers.

"You, old friend, are going to squeal like a pig when I'm done with you," Lily growled.

* * *

If Sirius hadn't seen his mother do worse to a muggle when he was a child, he would have probably been horrified at the sight of Lily torturing Snape. Then again – it _was_ Snape, so maybe not.

It took two hours for Snape to break down and tell her everything – the names of other Death Eaters, locations of safe houses, the piece of the prophecy he had heard, who it could apply to, what he knew of Voldemort's history, his own suspicions of how Voldemort climbed his way to immortality, until finally he began begging her to kill him and end it.

"Oh, no. You don't get off that easy. You're going to help us. And so help me, Snape, if you so much as think of betraying us, I'll make what just happened look like a weekend trip to the spa! Understand?"

"Yes, yes! I understand!"

"Good. Our first stop is the Longbottoms. We have to warn them about Voldemort coming for them next."

* * *

But they were too late.

Longbottom Manor was burning when they arrived. Frank was outside on the ground, wand in hand, but dead. Augusta was in the parlor room, also dead, but also with wand in hand, and four dead Death Eaters around her – the Lestrange brothers, along with Sirius' cousin Bellatrix, and Barty Crouch Jr.

The three rushed to Neville's nursery – Snape being prodded in the back repeatedly by Sirius, still in too much pain to move so quickly. Neville Longbottom was alive, and crying.

Lily picked him up and began shushing him, "Shh. Shh. It's alright. Aunt Lily's got you now." Lily was Nevile's godmother, just like his own mother, Alice, was Harry's godmother.

"Oh God, Alice too," Sirius said.

Alice Longbottom lay dead in front of her son's crib. A pile of ash and robes rested on the floor a few feet away. Snape leaned down, slowly, grunting in pain, and picked up the wand, before getting up and holding it out to Lily, handle pointing away from him.

"It's his – the Dark Lord's. His wand, his robes. The Longbottom woman must have defeated him."

"Yes, she must have," Lily murmured, still comforting Neville. She called for one of the Potter elves, "Nippy?"

"Mistress Lily calls Nippy?" the elf said, appearing out of thin air. It appeared to have been crying.

"This is my godson Nippy. I'll be taking custody of him shortly, but first I have a family – no – two families to avenge. Take Neville to a safe place. Do not return with him unless I call you."

"Yes, Mistress," Nippy said, taking the baby. "Nippy take good care of little Neville."

"Good. Go now." Nippy disappeared and Lily turned to Sirius and Snape.

"Now what?" Sirius asked.

"Now?" Lily repeated. "Now, we go and find some more Death Eaters.

* * *

Sirius offered use of the Black Family Library. He would later tell Remus in confidence, that he was hoping Lily would off his mother while she was on her rampage against the Death Eaters.

"A mudblood! In my house? How dare you, boy!" Walburga yelled. She was just about to call for Kreature to remove the filth from her home when the mudblood in question picked her up by the throat and slammed her against the wall, shoving a wand into her neck.

"Now, you listen closely, you vitriol-spewing old hag. Voldemort visited my family tonight, and killed my husband and son. I've already tortured a man tonight, and over the next few weeks I will be torturing and killing several more. If you get in my way, I will end you. Am I clear?"

When Walburga didn't reply, Lily yelled out, "AM I CLEAR!?"

"Yes, yes, very clear!"

"Good. Call me a mudblood again, and I'll show you a few curses of my own design. Sirius, the library?"

"Lily," Snape said softly. "Look, Slytherin's crest." Snape pointed to a locket on the kitchen table.

"Slytherin's crest?" Walburga cried. "But Kreature's been trying to destroy it." Kreature appeared at his name.

"Kreature couldn't," the elf said, miserably. "Kreature's tried, but couldn't do it. Kreature has failed Master Regulus." The elf began to wail.

"Regulus? What's Reg got to do with this?" Sirius asked. Kreature continued wailing. Lily knealt down.

"Kreature? Can you tell me why you think you've failed Master Regulus?" Lily asked. Kreature spilled the whole story of how Voldemort used him to hide the locket, and then how Regulus stole it and replaced it with a fake, and ordered Kreature to destroy it.

"I was right," Snape whispered. "He made a horcrux."

Walburga, who was crying at the story of her favorite son's death, turned to them and said, "More than one. He made more than one. Regulus wasn't the only one he called upon. He entrusted an object to Bella to hide. Narcissa's husband too."

"Three then?" Sirius asked.

"We can't know for sure. There might be more."

"Well, what are you waiting for boy?" Walburga scolded Sirius. "Take the mud-er, girl to the library. I'll get Druella."

"Aunt Druella? Whatever for?"

"She's the family spellcrafter, of course," Walburga answered. "If anyone can make a spell to track down more of these things it's her. Now, the library, off with you. Kreature, get them anything they need. We're going to avenge Master Regulus."

Lily Potter may be an uppity mudblood, but she was an uppity mudblood set upon destroying everything and everyone tied to the killer of Walburga's son. Walburga could work with her until the task was complete to avenge her son. Blacks were all about family.

* * *

Between the Black Family Library, the Marauder's notes – Walburga was surprised to learn that her oldest son and his friends had created some truly nasty spells – and Snape's knowledge of the Dark Arts, Lily learned hundreds of new curses and tactics in only a few days.

Kreature had provided several target dummies for her to practice on. Lily was startled at first, when she shot the first one with a mild torture curse and it began screaming. "Wouldn't help if you didn't know if spell works," Kreature had said.

Druella examined the suspected horcrux for hours, before declaring she knew of something similar. The library already had a spell to track souls, rather than the Point Me spell which detected magical signatures. It was the work of a single day to change the spell lightly to track down multiple pieces of the same soul.

Over the course of those days, the Prophet was filled with stories about the demise of Voldemort, the missing Longbottom boy – now named the Boy-Who-Lived by one of the journalists – and Death Eaters claiming Imperius and getting off.

With Bellatrix and her husband and his brother dead, the Lestrange fortune was turned over to the Black family. Walbura searched the Lestrange vaults using the Druella's edited spell and found a goblet with the crest of Hufflepuff on it. She returned with it to the house, and set it next to the

His mother accessing Bellatrix's vaults gave Sirius an idea. He immediately began pursuing the pureblood family trees, tracing the lines, and figuring out who would inherit what if who died. Quite a few of the Death Eater families had married into the Black and Potter lines at some point. If they were killed in the right order, Lily and the Blacks would get everything, keeping the money out of the hands of others who followed Voldemort.

Finally, they settled on a target – the Malfoys.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy woke up in pain, missing half of his left leg.

"Don't worry cousin-in-law," Sirius said cheerfully. "Lily will cauterize it for you." Lucius screamed as a flame curse hit his open wound.

"Now, Lucy. Let's talk about your old master, shall we?" Lily said.

* * *

As Lucius was convinced to give Lily the information she wanted and then some, Druella searched the Malfoy's manor. Her spell indicated that the next Horcrux was close.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" Narcissa asked, sleepily. Druella turned to her daughter.

"The Dark Lord killed Regulus. He and anyone following him are now Enemies of the Family." Narcissa gasped. Blacks were all about family, and they would avenge every last fallen son or daughter with their last breaths if necessary.

"Lucius?"

"Is being dealt with by your cousin and his friend. For a mudblood, she's quite spectacular. The Dark Lord should have never gone after the Potters. Tickling a dragon is bad enough, but what she went through, he might as well have shot a male dragon between the legs with a blasting curse. The deaths of his followers, at least, might have been a mite quicker."

"Lily Potter? Here? Torturing Lucius?"

"Never you mind about him. Lucius was given something by the Dark Lord to keep safe. It's somewhere nearby. Help me find it, and I will do my best to convince Mrs. Potter to spare your life. Don't, and I will assume you have thrown your lot in with Regulus' killer. It will pain me to lose another daughter so quickly."

"Another daughter?"

"Bellatrix was killed three days ago dear. Will I be left with only Andromeda?"

"No, mother. Family first. If the Dark Lord killed Regulus than I am against him, no matter the cost. There is a secret room, here, behind the tapestry."

The horcrux she was looking for was in the room. A small black diary with _Tom M. Riddle_ printed on the front in gold.

* * *

As Sirius, Lily, and Snape continued targeting Death Eaters and gathering information, Narcissa, Druella, and Walbura, in between taking care of young Draco, researched Tom Riddle.

The only one I've found is a Slytherin some years back," Narcissa said. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, but he disappears after graduation. Not to mention the son of a squib and a muggle."

"That can't be him then. There's no way the Dark Lord was a mudblood," Walburga said.

But when the other three returned, Lily said, "That must be him. Look." She wrote the name _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ down on a piece of parchment and then drew lines from the letters and switching their places, slowly writing out _I am Lord Voldemort_. "An anagram, see."

"A mudblood? But he was so insistent that he was a pureblood." A few weeks of research led them to the reason.

"He must have resented his muggle father, forsaking his muggle roots, and laying claim to the Gaunt inheritance. They were the remaining heirs of Slytherin's direct line," Narcissa said.

"He could have used something related to his muggle family though, as a last insult, as well as other founder objects for his horcruxes."

* * *

Peter Pettigrew cowered in the sewers for weeks, but when no one came for him, he crawled out and made his way to a wizarding family – the Weasleys – to await news of the return of his master. He was the only one to escape Longbottom Manor after Voldemort was vanquished. Even the Longbottom boy was gone now.

Unfortunately for Peter, he picked a bad day to join the Weasley family. They had just gotten a kneazle to hunt down the jarvey that had been bothering their chickens. While it didn't eat him, it certainly batted him around enough, on top of picking him up in its mouth and shaking him.

Thankfully, it was Arthur Weasley who came across his mutilated body in the morning. His children would have been traumatized by the sight, and Molly would have screamed, making the children rush to her to find out what was wrong.

Sirius would find out from the Prophet that Peter was dead, growl in frustration, and inform Lily, who would say, "One less for us to track down and kill. May his soul rot in hell for eternity."

* * *

It took seven whole weeks for the followers of Voldemort to notice that their numbers were dwindling, and two more before they were scared enough to try to leave. Five families managed to escape the Pureblood Purge as it would later come to be called – the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Parkinsons, the Bulstrodes, and the Notts.

The rest received visits from Lily Potter, and didn't survive. Lily, however, wasn't heartless. Despite the loss of her own son, she would not kill another's baby. The children, if they didn't have any family left to take them in, would be dropped off at a muggle orphanage. A few of the accounts Lily gained access to would donate money regularly to the orphanage to ensure the children there got the best of care.

* * *

Neville Longbottom bounced up and down as he waited for his family to take him to Platform 9 and 3/4. Neville was finally going to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had been surprised to see a letter go out to the Boy-Who-Lived who had been missing for years.

Neville hadn't been missing, of course. His guardian, Aunt Lily, knew exactly where he was at all times. She, along with Uncle Sirius, and Grandmother Walburga had raised him and his siblings/cousins. Lily and Sirius had had a set of twins – a boy and a girl – using something Aunt Lily called in-vee-trow, whatever that was – Aunt Lily promised to explain when he was older.

On occasion Aunt Narcissa or Grandmother Druella would visit with Draco, who was the same age as Neville, and also going to Hogwarts this year. Apart from a Weasley, a few foreigners, and the returning Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and Bulstrode families, Neville and Draco would be the only pureblood students entering Hogwarts this year.

The rest of the class would be filled with muggleborns – many of them orphans from the same orphanage. Aunt Lily told him to be nice to them and to explain anything about magic they didn't know, and that if anyone bothered him, he was to go to Snape.

Snape was the one member of his family, Neville didn't understand. Neither Aunt Lily or Uncle Sirius seemed to like him much, and Grandmothers Walburga and Druella tended to ignore him like they did the house elves, only talking to him when they needed something. Aunt Narcissa and Draco, who was Snape's godson, seemed to be the only ones that liked having him around.

Still, Snape remained a member of their family, always visiting on holidays and sending him and Draco both birthday and Christmas gifts. The only family member Neville hadn't met was Uncle Remus, who always sent presents, but never came for a visit, no matter how much Aunt Lily and Uncle Sirius tried to get him to do so.

"Finally!" Neville said, as Sirius came down the main staircase holding Reggie, short for Regulus.

"I know, I know," Sirius said. "The twins didn't want to cooperate today. Your Aunt's coming down with Rose, and then we'll leave.

Lily appeared with Rose a few minutes later, mumbling something about diaper straps, and finally they were off!

Neville stared at the platform in awe. It was his first time in a public place. Even his school supplies had been bought by Sirius, while Ollivander had let him floo directly into the wand shop. There were people everywhere, rushing to say goodbye to loved ones, and put various shapes and sizes of luggage on the train.

"Alright dear, now remember what we've told you," Lily said.

"And what we've taught you," Sirius added.

"Yes, that too, and have a wonderful year, okay."

"Okay. Bye Aunt Lily! Bye Uncle Sirius!"

Neville got settled on the train, keeping an eye out for Draco's arrival. Then, a red headed boy entered his compartment. "Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," the boy asked.

"Sure," Neville said. "Have a seat."

"I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley."

"Neville Longbottom."

"Are you really?"

* * *

Lily watched as the train sped off, waving goodbye to Neville. Voldemort and the majority of his Death Eaters had been dead for years, the horcruxes were all found and destroyed, and now her godson would have seven peaceful years at Hogwarts.

If the children of the remaining Death Eaters tried to start up some trouble, well, that's why she taught Neville several of her favorite curses.

* * *

On a separate note, I had this file saved as Lily's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

As always, I am accepting prompts, however, I am not accepting prompts through reviews. If you wish to give me a prompt, please see the Accepting Prompts section of my profile for instructions. Thank you.

I. H. Scribe


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